


Perspicacity

by mitsuboo



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, High School AU, Humor, Romance, law breaking, pretty much everyone lets be honest here, robin is a mess but gaius finds that very charming, this is mostly humor but theres some angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-09-23 17:52:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9669644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitsuboo/pseuds/mitsuboo
Summary: Robin knew tutoring Gaius would be a nightmare from the minute he showed up, she just never foresaw enjoying it this much.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> \- there will be more chapters, this is still a work in progress so keep updated on upcoming chapters  
> \- i love comments <3 please please please comment, give kudos, whatever. just feedback in general is appreciated  
> \- i'm sorry if the kleptomania part offends anyone, that will be explained later and handled. i dont think or headcannon that gaius has that, its a plot piece that's rly important to his character so just bare with me, and i apologize if it causes any offense in this chapter  
> \- I kind of got the idea of Gaius's flirting from a post on tumblr so if u recognize then !!!!!! good job

 "You've got your work cut out for you."

 

        That sentence was foreboding incarnate. It was one black storm cloud in an otherwise sunny sky. Soon enough, more black clouds would join it and Robin would be scrambling for an umbrella just to save herself from being soaked. It was sad how often she heard that sentence from different people throughout her life, but she also supposed it was merely her own fault for being like this. It was her own fault for being smart, for doing her work and raising everybody's expectations. It was her own fault for taking advanced classes, where the teachers found a new hobby in challenging her, warning her ahead of time that she would be spending all night on this calculus homework, she had her work cut out for her. She could've easily slacked off in school, she could've easily just _ignored_ school work and all the not so gentle nudges for her to be the shining star of it all. _It's all your fault anyway._

 

      But if she did that, she wouldn't be Robin. Who would Robin be if she wasn't Robin? Not Robin. Not that she _liked_ being Robin all the time.

 

     That train of thought caused her to groan and pinch the bridge of her nose with her thumb and middle finger, her head dipping down towards the plastic table she sat at. The table was tan, an ugly color with a fake wood look decorating it. Her papers and books were scattered across it like a hurricane just blew through. She really was hoping to avoid those words with how unorganized she was at the moment - finals always seemed to drain her of all sanity she held in the first place. She didn't need her work cut out for her now of all times.

 

    Finally, she raised her head back up to eye Miriel suspiciously. The woman was emotionless as she returned the high schooler's look. Of course she wasn't concerned about Robin, hardly anyone was really concerned about Robin when it came to academia. Yet she wasn't bitter about that, it was sort of a compliment in a way. Yes, Robin could tutor this kid while studying for finals and still get into Yale in the end. No problem. No big deal. They believed in her.

 

     "Why do I have my work cut out for me?"

 

    She didn't quite know what to think about the look of relief that flickered across Miriel's face, as if she was glad that Robin had stopped being so dramatic about this. Nobody besides those who knew the middle aged teacher closely could see the expressions on her face, though, it was all in the small twitches of her lips, the tiny flashes in her eyes. Robin had always been perceptive - determined as well, something that gained the teacher's respect. "Well, his tendencies that tend to inconvenient his mentors border on delinquency. In fact, I believe he lawfully is registered into delinquency."

 

    Her stomach churned anxiously, and she clasped her hands together as if she was pleading, "Oh god. Gosh, what did he do? Please tell me he's not violent."

 

   Robin didn't need that, especially not now. She wasn't judgemental, nor was she the type to ever assume or treat someone wrongly just by a few mistakes, or even how they looked. Yet, she had to be careful with tutoring. There had been a few instances of Miriel assigning some less than desirable people to Robin for this assignment, it was like Miriel believed that she'd get double the college credits just because she dealt with some eccentrics. She didn't, she just got a lot of questions about life and a lot of headaches. Or perhaps it was because Robin was one of the only people enrolled in the private school tutoring program that could actually tactfully deal with these types of people. And while she handled them perfectly, she preferred to just avoid it altogether. Miriel knew this after a rather loud confrontation, so she assigned the _calmer_ delinquents to her now. "Oh no, no he poses no danger. Just a tad…"

 

    She gave the bespectacled woman a pleading look, one that she knew would make her uncomfortable at the sight. It worked perfectly, as Miriel immediately finished her thought with a prim push of her glasses up her nose once more, "Kleptomaniacal."

 

    "He s _teals_ things?"

 

    "I believe that is what kleptomaniacal proceeds, yes."

  

     "I know what- ugh." There was no use arguing with Miriel, she would just raise a cool red eyebrow at her and continue on her merry way, or as merry as Miriel could get. Robin buried her face in her hands once again and took a deep sigh, preparing herself for what was to come, "Tell me about him."

 

    Miriel leaned down to grab the yellow file that she had laid on the edge of the table. The two were in a library, it was afternoon after school so several students milled about or hung out on the computers. Robin always picked the very edge of the library, where no one would go and where she wouldn't hear the cries of children nearby. She liked her peace and quiet while studying and tutoring people. Her recent tutoring was of Stahl, not exactly a delinquent, but someone who would often skip classes to go have a snack or take a nap. He proceeded to psychoanalyze her, munch on a candy bar and watch her stare into the distance as she thought about how her 'good girl' persona was just to cover up her overwhelming terror of not being accepted for how she truly didn't want to spend her life pleasing others. Stahl was very interesting.

 

   Then there was Henry. Oh lord, Henry.

 

    He told her exactly 10 puns - she counted - in a row before she could even open the first book. He smiled the entire time, and then as a thank you for helping him to pass the math test, he gave her tickets to a haunted house he worked at. It wasn't even Halloween, and he worked at a haunted house. Turned out, it was an actual house, and he was convinced it was haunted and she had to sit in politely on a summoning he and Tharja performed. Robin looked over her shoulder in paranoia the rest of that day.

 

    Point is, she's tutored a lot of of weirdos. Now, it was the kleptomaniac's turn.

 

   Miriel stood in front of the table, opening up the yellow folder and extracting a piece of paper. She cleared her throat before reading the text off outloud, "Gaius. Sleeps in class, skips class, once… once smuggled a canine into the chemistry laboratory. In the parenthesis, it mentions that it was _not_ a dog."

   

   Not a dog. Okay.

 

    She would be the bigger person here, ignore that mental reminder that as she was only 5'2 it was sort of _impossible_ for her to be the bigger person around most men. But no, she would be bigger. She wouldn't assume anything bad of this man, he wasn't a murderer, he wasn't going around attacking people. He just skipped classes, and snuck a not-dog into the chemistry lab. That was nothing. Perhaps he was taking tutoring because he wanted to reform from those mistakes? Judging would only make him want to reform less.

 

    "Oh," Miriel looked over her shoulder at someone that just entered through the library doors, "He's made his arrival."

 

    She put both hands on the table and pushed herself up to lean over and look past the bookshelf blocking her view. Her eyes flitted across the students goofing off on computers, the little kids running across the room and being shushed by parents trying to catch them. Once they landed on whoever just stepped through the glass double doors, she immediately wanted to run away.

 

     She wanted to pick up her bags and books, and make her escape through the nearby window. Maybe she'd break the glass on the way. Maybe she'd catch a public bus to the next town over, just to avoid the wrath of Miriel and the tutoring of the stranger she had just kissed last week. She even still had his candy in her jacket pocket, the one that lay across her bed back in her dorm room. Over the week, she would stick her hand into the pocket and feel the slightly squishy chocolate like a little reminder of what happened.

 

     Touching a piece of half melted chocolate he gave her was well and good, but seeing him was _not_ acceptable. Thus, she did something stupid for the first time in her life.

 

    Robin took a deep breath to ready herself. And she held out her hand to greet him as he neared, that smirk still on his lips as he recognized her, an eyebrow raised at her very obviously tense and forced smile. "Robin. I'll be tutoring you."

 

    Jumping out the window would've been a safer bet.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

    There were times when Robin needed to just not be Robin. Times when she would feel herself becoming a ghost, seeming to fray at the edges until she didn't know if anybody could see her anymore at all. Maybe, if she reached out and touched someone, they'd not even notice, and she'd finally feel herself dissipate like fog. Yet, she'd reach out, watch her hand gently touch a wall, a book, the shoulder of some distracted stranger on the street. She was solid, they were solid, and she wasn't going to disappear.

 

    It was both reassuring and terrifying at the same time.

 

    She existed. She existed despite it all. She was going to be Valedictorian. She was going to Yale. She was going to move past it all. She existed. And gosh, did she not want to exist more than anything. Screw Yale, Robin needed a break from herself.

 

    So she ran away. It was only for a day, just to escape that cramped dorm where she didn't feel like home. Nothing, really, was home. But that was her fault, her choice. She brought this all on herself. _You brought this all on yourself._

 

She ran away to an old movie theater this time. It was in the bad part of town where the fences weren't picketed and the grass was yellow and dying. She walked down the empty street towards the old fashioned theater that had the light-up banner above the ticket booth. It was mustard yellow, a few lightbulbs in it obviously broken. It was 3 p.m. and she apparently was the only person that wanted to see 'Clowns From Outer Space' at 3 p.m. She probably was the only one seeing it in the first place, judging by the ticket booth man's weird look as she asked to get in.

 

   The theater smelled like floor wax. Her head was light from the scent, but she merely hugged her big jacket closer to herself and trudged through purple velvet doors into the lobby area. A pimply teenage boy popped gum behind the counter and played on his phone, not even taking notice of her. She felt like she was mist again, just fog in the form of a girl moving to get her ticket checked and walk down the carpeted hall that desperately needed a vacuum.

 

   She never expected to be alone in a theater with _him._

 

Him was his name. Not truly, it's not even what he told her, but she couldn't help but call him that mentally. He sat in the very back, in the shadowy corner with his arms behind his head and his legs up on the back of the seat. Robin frowned when she saw him doing that, even with no one around she didn't like seeing the rules be broken.

 

   She was standing in the aisle, both hands crossed over her stomach and holding her arms like she was trying to hold herself together. She stopped to watch him for a minute, and it was right then that he opened one, cat like eye at her.

 

    There was no electric feeling. Nothing passed between the two. No jolt. No feeling of solace. Merely an embarrassed Robin going pink as she abruptly turned her head and made her way to the middle of the aisles of seats. She wasn't _watching_ these clowns from outer space kill the screaming women on the screen, but her eyes were kept on the screen religiously, just something to look at and focus on.

 

    She'll feel better when she goes to college. She'll feel better when she's more distracted by school, and there's no pushy teachers trying to keep her to a high standard. She won't feel like a ghost anymore once she gets a fresh start, a place where nobody knows her. A place where nobody expects so much of her - maybe they'll actually see her. She won't be that fog that they just look right through and see whatever shapes they want through her blurry figure.

 

    Maybe. Maybe she'll feel better. Maybe she'll-

 

    "Wanna kiss?"

 

    Robin nearly screamed. She jumped out of her skin almost, gripping the velvety sides of her chair as she jerked away. Her white bangs fell into her eyes, her lips parted in shock, and every muscle was stiff with surprise. She turned around to look at the source of the question - a really, really stupid question.

 

    It was him. It was that weird guy dozed off in the back of the theater, her fellow 3 p.m. clowns from outer space movie lover. Or maybe he was a ghost too. He didn't look like he was going through a crisis, in fact he looked quite put together, amused even.

 

   The smirk fell the moment he noticed her expression of shock melt into irritation. "Sorry," He rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat, furrowing both brows together - he was almost _cute,_ "I just uh… I got some candy," He picked up a bag of Hershey's Kisses and shook it in acknowledgement, "Want a kiss?"

 

   She could've swore he asked if she wanted _to_ kiss, not wanted _a_ kiss. She supposed it could be taken both ways. Her cheeks went red at her own assumption of that, this random guy in a theater wouldn't wanna kiss some random girl. He was cute, he probably had a girlfriend and was just taking it easy here and napping. That was safe, that was okay. Robin sighed in relief and held out a hand, "Sure, thank you. I appreciate it."

 

    "Hey, no problem," He shrugged his shoulders and deposited the small candy onto her palm.  He wore a black hoodie, one that frayed on the edges as if he's had it for years. Or maybe he was one of those rich kids that bought those stupid already fraying distressed clothes on purpose. Robin went to a private school, she was surrounded by those types at all times, "Sharing is caring."

 

  Behind her, the woman on the screen screamed in terror again, clutching her hand to her heart as a killer clown from outer space shuffled towards her with a small handaxe. Robin paid no attention to the screaming, and instead raised an eyebrow at the ginger who leaned against the seat behind the one next to her. His eyes were green, an olive green, with a smattering of brown freckles across his nose and cheeks, like constellations. She had to resist the urge to reach out and trace them. She could only wonder when she had gotten weird enough to want to violate a complete stranger's cheeks just because they were pretty.

 

   "Are you… quoting carebears?"

 

   He merely shrugged, still not taking his eyes off the screen, "Am I?"

 

   Well, okay. She just blinked for a minute before turning around in her seat and turning her head back to the screen. She was out of her reverie of thought, now all too aware of the terrible cgi and bad makeup on the clowns in the movie. She was sitting in a dimly lit theater, the chair next to her had a candy wrapper in the seat, she had slid the uneaten Hershey's Kiss into her jacket pocket for safe keeping, this stranger's hands clasped together beside her as he leaned onto the seat right next to her. If she turned her head to the right, her face would be right next to his. And she's pretty sure those tickets were overpriced. But running away was good, running made her feel put together again. Made her feel solid.

 

   "So, do you wanna kiss?"

 

   She _knew_ she wasn't imagining things.

 

    Robin sent him a worried look, as if she was concerned about his sanity if he truly was asking random girls in theaters to kiss. "You're asking me to kiss?"

 

   He didn't blush, but he rubbed his neck bashfully and scowled lightly at her, as if this concern embarrassed him. Yet, she had a feeling he had very little shame, if any. "Yeah, I mean… If you wanna. Why not, bubbles?"

 

    Her expression became bewildered at the nickname, "Bubbles? Why're you asking me to kiss? And why are you calling me that?"  
 

   He gave a blank shrug, "It fits. You ask a lot of question. If you don't wanna kiss then that's cool, we can watch this clown murder movie together," He popped a Hershey's Kiss into his mouth, she watched it roll against his cheek for a second before his jaw moved with chewing, and she could only imagine that he'd taste like chocolate. Cheap, delicious chocolate.

 

   "Why…" She shifted uncomfortably, "Why do you wanna kiss me anyway?"

 

    This time, his eyes finally turned away from the screen to rest on her, and she subconsciously straightened up. She watched as his lips twisted up into a smirk, eyes half lidded with an arrogant expression as he looked at her. He didn't look at her chest, he didn't look at her legs, her lips, nor her neck. He looked at her. Right in the eyes, and unlike anybody else that looked her, he wasn't trying to pressure her into striving for the stars, for the universe itself. He wasn't trying to pressure her - she could kiss him if she wanted to, or she could take another candy, or they could watch this terrible movie together.

  

    She knew what she wanted.

 

   But she was also Robin, and wouldn't let anything slip past her.

 

   "Do you have a girlfriend?"

 

    "No."

 

    "Boyfriend?"

 

     "Nobody at all, bubbles."

 

    "Why are you here in the first place?"

 

    The grin he gave her was wicked, he even leaned his head down a little to let his shaggy ginger hair fall into his eyes, like he was telling a secret, "I'm on the run from the police."

 

    "Yeah, right."

 

    He looked back up at the screen again blankly, yet the hint of a smile remained, "It's true."

 

    Silence between the two while the scraping of a clown's axe filled the theater instead. Gasps from the cast of teenage girls that were being hunted down by these space clowns, the evil high pitched laughter and the pop of a balloon animal. This wasn't quite what Robin saw her first kiss as - but then again, she had no time to even imagine it. Maybe this would be her best kiss ever, and nothing would ever top it. Maybe she'd marry this guy, have 2 kids with him.

 

    Who was she kidding? Random guys in movie theaters that offered to kiss equally random girls didn't really marry and have 2 kids with those girls. She would be an idiot for thinking otherwise, and Robin wasn't an idiot.

 

    She, also, wanted to make the first move. She wouldn't tell him she was going to do it. She was at her most comfortable when controlling every move around her, even if kisses in a theater with a cute guy were entirely unplanned. So she took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a minute and steadying her shaky nerves.

 

    Leaning forward, before he could even look at her in surprise, she placed a soft hand on his cheek and pressed her lips against his. Her stomach burst with fireworks, her shoulders tensed up, and she had to resist the urge to start grinning. Her first kiss. She didn't even know his name.

 

   After a few beats, he leaned in more to deepen the kiss. Her eyes were closed, she was lost in the kiss. 10 seconds passed, 15 seconds now. 20 seconds turning 30. Her hand was sliding up his cheek and now tangling into his hair and pulling on it. Everything just felt so right, like all the puzzle pieces were falling into place just with this one kiss. It was instincts now, and Robin could only mentally dub herself as the Kissing Expert.

 

    And he really did taste like chocolate.

 

    But it ended abruptly. He jerked away from it, as if waking up from his own reverie. Robin took in a breath as she watched his eyes grow wide, and his head jerk around to look over his shoulder. He seemed paranoid, suddenly on high alert. Was she so bad of a kisser that he had to run away?

 

   Maybe he heard something she hadn't. If she listened past the slasher movie sounds, she could hear the stomping of feet and stern voices floating up to reach her ears. Something was going on outside the theater, and this guy had apparently not liked it. He immediately was up and out of his seat, sprinting down the aisle towards the opposite exit. But halfway down, he seemed to change his mind. He stopped, turning on his heels and running back to her. He leaned down and put a hand under her chin, lifted her face and pecked her lips for a split second. She pouted at how there wasn't even time to enjoy that one, but he was already out of the theater and down the dark hallway, gone beyond the little wall separating the entrance door and the seats. She listened as the door was pushed open, and his quickened footsteps faded away.

 

   She felt dejected. Hollow. But at least she was solid. Even when the police came up with their flashlights and suspicous eyes to check under every seat in the theater, and she was asked to leave, she still felt solid. She still felt seen.

 

   And she still tasted chocolate.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin had never ran from a library so quickly in her life.

"Robin, I'll be tutoring you."  
 

 Her confident, outstretched hand seemed so formal, so stiff and business-like. It was a sharp contrast to the last time she had seen him - and she was entirely sure it was him. There were the same freckles, same olive eyes, same hair in his face. He merely raised an eyebrow at her hand that still waited out in the open between their two bodies. She was quickly becoming more, and more nervous.

 

 It was almost as if he was doing this on purpose. As to be expected of a guy who kisses random girls in theaters and runs when the cops near. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised when it took him a _minute_ to finally place his hand in hers, shaking it lightly and smile as if he was laughing internally at her. "Yeah, hey Bubbles. What a coincidence, huh?"

 

 She sat back down after the handshake, awkwardly bobbing her head up and down and avoiding his eyes, "Totallyyy…" God, god she was cracking up inside. She could only _wish_ she was a ghost right now, unseen and unheard, unacknowledged. This wouldn't be given to her, as Gaius decided to forgo the seat across the table, and instead plop himself down right beside her, as close as could be. Her nerves shot up like a water spout.

 

 Miriel merely raised an eyebrow at the two and gathered her yellow files on the table up. Robin hated to wonder what she was thinking, what with her odd behavior and the _nickname_ , gosh that nickname had to go. "I will vacate and allow the philosophical panderings to commence. I pray that it is proficuous, Robin."

 

 The two watched the teacher leave, books in her hands as she winded her way through the shelves and towards the sliding doors that would lead her out. Beside her, Gaius sent her a questioning glance, "Proficuous?"

 

  She tensed once again, "Profitable, or of a good useage. Of advantage."

 

  He whistled at that, "You sure are smart, bubbles."

 

  She was entirely, devastatingly _sure_ that her cheeks were red. She did feel hot, and oh how she _loathed_ that warmth on her cheeks. She wouldn't meet his eyes as she lowered her voice, "Why do you call me that?"

 

 "Would you prefer something else? Kitten? Porcelain?"

 

 Oh no, no way in hell. "Those are worse. Robin is just fine."

 

  "That’s good bubbles, I'm really glad you're just fine. I, too, am just dandy."

 

  What a smart ass. He seemed to enjoy that, being the most amused at his own little joke. She, on the other hand, was not amused. It seemed like bubbles was sticking around for now, at least until she could campaign and riot her way into getting him to stop using it. She was good at those things, so good that her private school's debate club wouldn't even hire her for fear of her overshadowing the other members. The school council even feared it when she would make requests, and she always did get her way. She wasn't rude, she simply liked getting things done right.

 

   Some would call her a control freak. _Nobody_ had ever considered her bubbly. Smart, a little bossy, and reserved? Yes. Not bubbly.

 

   One thing she surely was right now was nervous. He had chosen to sit so close, she could make out the little frays on the edge of his hoodie, the constellations of freckles that smattered his nose. She squinted at him - he was still cute, even after a week. Dammit. She had hoped that would've changed.

 

   It would be okay, she was not one to be betrayed by her own fleshly weaknesses. A cute boy wouldn't sway her to ignore tutoring, no one ever had. She needed these volunteering credits to escape. Yet, the memory of that kiss and their first meeting still seemed to hang in the air between them like some lingering fart - the comparison made her wrinkle her nose in disgust and grimace. She would just have to go with the flow and ignore the hershey's Kiss that lay in her jacket pocket, the little melted reminder of all that had happened. "So, let's start with math." She opened up the thick text book in front of her to the first lesson, glancing at him to see if he was paying attention.

 

  He was not.

 

  While she had opened up a text book, he had opened up a sucker and proceeded to shove it in his mouth and swirl it around a bit. Again, she watched his jaw move as the candy did, his eyes began to glaze over as he eyed the text book in front of him. He was bored already, and she hadn't even begun.

 

  She wouldn't force him to start with something he wouldn't find interesting. So she closed the book, pushed it aside and pulled forward a science book, "Biology?"

 

  There was a shrug of his shoulders, another bored look. At least he wasn't complaining outwardly, that was enough for her to go on. "Okay um…" She bit her lip and looked out at her text book pile, "Literature?"

 

  He pulled the sucker out of his mouth with a 'pop', twisting the white stick in his hands, the red ball at the end catching the light as he spoke up, "Start with your favorite, bubbles."  
 

  Her favorite. She had never been asked that before. Everybody just assumed she liked it all. And truthfully, she did like it all. Yet to pick her favorite, that had never been really asked of her before. She hesitated as she stared out at the titles before her, not quite knowing how to proceed. "Oh um… I don't know."

 

  Truth be told, it would have to be literature. She had always wanted to write a book, yet never quite got the time. Literature was respected greatly, yet of course her teachers and counsellors always pushed her towards science and getting a degree in that, going to work for the space station or something along those lines. Occasionally they pushed 'doctor', other times it was 'biologist'. Literature was always quite brushed under the rug, and Robin could relate. She, too, was always quite brushed under the rug.

 

  So she opened up the literature book and took out a notebook and pen from her bag that was sitting down below her chair, "Let’s start with this."

 

  His eyes flickered down to the page curiously. He was like a cat, always attentive and on alert, reading every little movement and expression with ease. That, paired with the kiss, was enough to put her on edge. "Why's this your favorite?"

 

  "Oh…" It was so out of the blue, her eyes widened as she thought on it, "I don't know. I just like it, it's calming."

 

  Literature was more than calming, really. It was an outlet, her temporary escape from the reality she was in. She had written a few short stories here and there, some viginettes and poetry, but she was much too embarrassed of them to ever attempt publishing them, whether it be online or in a hardback book. And they weren't that good, just panderings of her stressed out mind at 4 a.m. after a few cups of coffee. Her roommate, Maribelle, always would groan and tell her to stop that clacking on her computer before she could ever get that far into them, anyway. Yet, she wasn't about to tell Gaius all of this, not when they just met officially and when he left her in a theater that was about to be searched by cops. Even if they were friends, he still wouldn't know.

 

  "I bake to calm down," He wrinkled up his nose in thought and looked out at the library, from the posters on good eyesight to the little kids screaming for their mommies in the children's section, "Then I eat it all afterwards to get even more calm."

 

  Robin tensed up, her eyes widening involuntarily as she bounced her knee and leaned forward, her voice a whisper, "Weed brownies?"

 

  "What? No. Bubbles," He now looked at her, brows furrowed as he squinted in his attempts to understand the startled, small girl next to him, "Normal brownies. And cakes, and cookies and crap."

 

  "Well," She tsked derisively and leaned back, "You never know."

 

  "Shouldn't we get to studying?"

 

  Robin almost felt ashamed that he had to remind her. Usually, it would be _she_ reminding the one she was tutoring. He truly did seem like he came to learn something today, and she could respect that enough to turn her attention back onto the text book, handing him the pen and pointing to the lesson that they would be starting on.

 

  Gaius seemed like a smart guy, though she had a feeling his intelligence lied more in things he could actually use rather than little memory tests that would just look good on report cards. She didn't dwell on it, there was nothing to dwell on with this. He was simply someone who wanted to learn what he wanted to learn, rather than be forced by the school. As the two traded between teaching and conversation, she discovered that he went to one of the worst schools around. A cheap public school that valued their football team more than their art program, the one where some kid got stabbed in just a month ago. Once again, she had to ask, "Did you stab him?"

 

  He looked up from his paper, eyes out on the library around him instead of her as he answered, "No. I didn't stab that kid… What kinda guy do you think I am?"

 

  "The kind that kisses a girl and then leaves without giving her a name or a number." Of course her tongue would slip, letting little bits of just how nervous and resentful of their first meeting she was escape out and spill all over this tutoring session. She stopped herself and brushed her white locks behind her ear, averting her eyes away in shame, "Sorry, that was innapropriate."

 

  Oddly enough, he gave a laugh in return. He leaned back in his chair and put his arms behind his head, "Nah, I was waiting for you to bring it up."

 

  "You couldn't bring it up yourself?"

 

  " _You_ needed to. I like it when a girl gets all feisty all over that kinda stuff."  
 

  She didn't consider herself feisty, really, she considered herself loose tongued and impulsive. She always had a habit of just blurting out what was exactly on her mind, and it was something she worked on daily. Yet sometimes, it would just escape, as if there was a snarky, catty Robin inside of her just showing herself in little intervals. "I don't know if I'm feisty… just wondering what happened."

 

  "Well," He lowered his arms from behind his head, now crossing them over his chest, "I told you, I was on the run from the cops."  
 

  How suspicious that he had said that, and then several minutes later the cops really did show up. He had to be telling the truth, nothing is ever a coincidence in those types of situations. And Miriel _had_ warned her of the delinquency. "Ah… Kleptomania…"

 

  He seemed to grimace at that word, his eyes still looking out at the library instead of at her, "Hate that word. It's not kleptomania. And it was just…" his legs shifted, he was uncomfortable on the subject, "It was just a hat. It's getting cold outside, I need one."

 

  She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from asking why he couldn't just _buy_ one. Not everybody was as privileged as her to have a rich father that gives her a credit card - though wouldn't pay for her school, oddly enough - she could buy as many hats as she damn well pleased. But perhaps it _was_ kleptomania, and Gaius _could_ afford a hat, he just stole for whatever other reason he could think of. Yet, he was still uncomfortable. She turned away from him and picked up her pen once again, "We should get back to work."  
 

  "I would've gotten your number," He went on, "But I was, ya know, on the run."  
  
  "I get it."  
 

  "I don't always kiss girls in theaters."

 

  "Oh so you kiss them on the subway?"

 

  "Nope, never at all. You're the first," Her attention was tore away as he said that, her eyes landing on him as he casually began to unwrap another sucker to replace the one he just finished, "You just looked like you needed it."

 

  Robin had always considered herself a rather closed book. Not that she had much to hide with her _very_ exciting lifestyle of sitting in front of a computer and drinking hot chocolate when she wasn't studying for school or complaining at the student body. She had never really guessed that she could be read so easily, she prided herself on keeping her emotions a secret. "I did?"

 

  Gaius leaned in now, nearly startling her half to death as his face got closer, now just only inches away. She could smell the sweet candy on his tongue as he spoke, "You show more than you think, bubbles dearest."  
 

  There was something so challenging in this. It was like he was just daring her to flinch, a competition on who would back away first. She showed her emotions more than she thought? Well, she'd have to prove him wrong. She wasn't some flimsy little paper girl, sliced so thin she would crumple and wrinkle at the slightest conflict. She was strong, she was Robin. She was going to Yale on a scholarship and going to be the best doctor/biologist/president she could be. "I just really… _really_ like killer clown movies."

 

  She looked confident, challenging, but her insides were jelly and her stomach was churning like butter. She dearly hoped that didn't show on her face. Gaius gave no indication of it as he leaned in more, making her tense up significantly as his lips just _barely_ brushed against hers, "We should go see another one, get another kiss in. I could give you my number this time."

 

  Did she want to get his number? This guy who stole hats and ran from cops? She didn't even know cops would chase after a guy for so long just over a hat. Maybe he stole _only_ hats. That would be okay, he wasn't that bad of a criminal. Yet, a criminal nonetheless. It wasn't as if he was going on her permanent record, though, and Yale would refuse her entry simply over her going to see a bad clown movie and kissing some hat stealer.

 

  She mulled over all of this in her mind, making Gaius pull away in confusion and furrow his brows as he saw Robin's eyes glaze over, flicker over to the table with her lips moving softly as if she was speaking to herself. She was thinking over something, trying to piece through his words like a complicated math problem. That was too cute, much too cute. His shoulders shook in a quick laugh, grabbing her attention again as he began to speak, "You okay, bubbles? Lost in your thoughts about me?"

 

  Her pale cheeks flushed pink again, "You could say that."  
 

  "You know I was kidding, right?"

 

  Robin's shoulders reflexively loosened up, relief flooding out of her as she realized she didn't _have_ internally debate over this, he was kidding the whole time. It wasn't too amusing of a joke, but she couldn't find the energy in her to be irritated by it. Instead, her reaction ended up much, _much_ worse.

 

  "Ohhhh, yeaaaah I knew that," She nodded awkwardly, biting her lip. Mentally, she began to curse herself for sounding so _fake_ , so obviously lying. She never truly had to lie to anyone before, especially about the matter of kissing her with the background of a clown movie, and especially to a cute boy she was supposed to be _tutoring,_ "I knew that this entire time."  
 

  Gaius's amused expression made her wanna punch him. He obviously could see past her lies, a toddler could see past those. "Sure."

 

  "Shut up," She snapped as she leaned down beside her seat to pick up her bag, piling all the text books into it frantically in her attempt to retreat from the scene and somehow escape it all. This was his fault, for once something wasn’t hers, "I've gotta go study for a test, so uh…" She glanced at the literature text book, "You can borrow that for a while."

 

  He snapped out of his amused state and looked at the book in surprise, eyes widening slightly, "Really? This is fancy, must've cost a bit."

 

  She waved a dismissive hand, "Just don't burn it, or anything," Standing up from the table, she began to walk out, yet waved goodbye, "See ya later… alligator…. aligaius…"

 

  _Aligaius._

 

Robin had never ran out of a library so quickly in her life.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She hated him. She hated anybody that could know her so well just after 3 interactions with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- this chapter feels so short,, smh,,
> 
> \- I'm not trying to rush the romance, so they don't really like each other yet just so u know, it'll be revealed later why Gaius can read Robin so well !! There's an actual reason behind it rather than just 'he just can'
> 
> \- There's more of Robin's backstory that'll be coming up soon, I just didn't wanna go through it all at once <3 
> 
> \- I love comments and feedback!!! It is all appreciated!! Thanks for reading this far, I'll try to update as soon as I can!!

Robin was born 17 years ago in a luxury hospital after 7 hours of intense labor. When she finally slid out, she happened to be screaming her lungs out so much that her own mother covered her ears and said, "Shut that thing up!" The woman was tired, sweaty, and about to cheat on her husband, it was no wonder that she was a bit cranky.

 

  While baby Robin wiggled and squealed in a doctors arms, her mother took a heavy breath and looked at her husband with half lidded eyes, "Can we get a muzzle?"

 

  Validar simply scowled, "As much as I would like that, I'm afraid it's illegal."  
 

  "Well darn."

 

  It was the first conversation baby Robin ever heard. It was not the voice of her mother that soothed her, but instead the soft whispers of the nurse that cleaned her up. As a baby, she never did notice the charming grin of the doctor as he took off his mouth mask, the tired yet flirtatious grin that her mother sent right back to him, and her father's obvious disinterest as his eyes were glued to the pager in his hand. Her birth was not ceremonial, it was not celebrated, and it was the day her mother met the man she would leave Validar for.

 

  But, Robin was a baby. All she knew how to do was cry.

 

  She was a year old when her mother finally left Validar to be with her secret lover. Again, she didn't quite know what was going on as she strapped into the backseat of a van that was bought simply for her birth. It was the dead of night, the backseat had little goldfish cracker crumbs stuffed into the corners and on the floorboard, and her mother's eyes were rimmed with running black mascara. Robin simply wanted more goldfish.

 

  For the first 10 years of her life, her real, blood-related father was an out of place birthday card in the mail, all with a neatly tucked in 5 dollar bill between the plain and rather boring pieces of paper, and his sprawling and unreadable signature at the bottom of the page. It was cold, unpersonal, and entirely Validar. Every few years he'd forget. She got one on her 2nd. On her 4th. On her 8th. And then never again. She always assumed he thought she was too old for those now. She took pride in that assumption, accepting it with all her might.

 

  She had 1 sibling. Little sisters came after the big sisters, so since Aversa came into the family after Robin, she assumed she should call her her little sister, though Aversa was 8 years older than her, so technically she was a big sister. They barely knew each other, their only interactions being awkward family meetings over dinner tables at fancy restaurants, these occurred once she hit 12 years old. Robin always ordered something sensible, earning a cold yet approving look from Validar, and a glare from Aversa, who had ordered something equally mature yet got no recognition for this. Robin didn't care, at this age she didn't crave his approval anyway, no matter how much she got it. As for Aversa, she was merely her replacement after mother had whisked her away.

 

   Looking at Validar, with the dark eyes and the dagger sharp cheekbones that made him look like a walking skeleton, one wouldn't assume he would want a replacement for not having a child around. It was a rarity for her father to surprise her, after so much absence she only expected that and nothing else - and he delivered it more than ever.

 

  He was the one paying for her school now, making her go to a private school where they had to wear uniforms and live in dorms with roommates and a lights out period. It felt like a prison, but with only one year left Robin wasn't about to make her jail-break. She had nowhere to go anyway. Validar wouldn't accept her at his home, her mother had passed away 3 years ago. She was stuck, like in quicksand, and with every moment she spent under the ever watchful and frankly domineering eyes of the 'education counsellors', she only sunk deeper - the day where she wouldn't be able to breath had yet to come.

 

  It was a Friday, a week since her last run in with Gaius. _Alligaius_. She couldn't get that damn word out of her mind, as if it was tattooed there on her brain and behind her eyes and in her dreams. First cute boy that flirts with her, and she tells the world's stupidest pun. It was entirely typical. Lissa had nearly shot milk through her nose when Robin had conveyed the experience to her.

 

  She had to tutor him again after school today, the thought of it made her hairs stand on ends and her mind be entirely _too_ present on her classes. Usually, she was her usual invisible self, a ghost drifting in and out of consciousness as she weaved through crowds to get to her next class. She was smart enough to know the answer when called upon, but she didn't even quite _hear_ her own mouth speak it. Today's attentiveness made her wonder why she even zoned out like that, what was wrong enough with her to make her feel as if she wasn't even _real_ from day to day?

 

  It seemed her teacher's noticed her unusual behavior today as well. Chrom stood waiting outside the classroom door, leaning against the wall right outside of the doorway as he watched her history teacher talk excitedly to the white haired girl, "You're just usually so…"

 

  Robin pursed her lips as she waited for the teacher to continue.

 

  A few waves of the hand as if this would explain it all came about, and the woman squinted her eyes, "S _leepy._ You're sleepy."

 

  That wasn't exactly how Robin would've described it, but she wouldn't correct her. She just wanted out of the classroom - Chrom was waiting for her. "Um, sorry?"

 

  "It's okay," She waved her hands, "As long as you pass the class, you're okay! I'm just wondering what's up… You even took notes today, and your eyes weren't all zoned out. Is everything okay?"

 

  Yet another person saying that they could read her easily. She bristled in irritation at that and couldn't help the scowl that grew on her face - but quickly erased it and forced herself to become impassive so the teacher couldn't read _that_ about her as well. She had to work on her poker face, really, she didn't want the entire world reading every emotion she had. "Everything's fine. I guess I just uh… Drank too much coffee."

 

  "That'll do it," The teacher nodded sympathetically, then glanced out the doorway at the blue haired boy waiting in the hallway for her, "Looks like your boyfriend's here to pick you up. I'll let you go, just keep it up! I like to see attentive eyes, gives me reassurance that I'm not entirely boring!" She sort of was, but Robin wasn't about to tell the excited teacher that.   
  
  Chrom was the farthest thing from a boyfriend that any male could be. He was a brother, simply a boy that happened to be her friend, a trusted confidant that happened to a member of the male species. She gave a small wave of goodbye to the teacher and made her way out the door, towards the questioning gaze of her friend as he waited on her to finish. His arms were folded across his chest, legs twisted over each other. If any of his little fangirls were near, they'd just die at that pose.

 

  "You're the first person I've seen the teachers keep after class just to express concern for," He said as she approached, "Usually it's just a lecture."

 

  Robin shrugged as the two began their descent down the hallway, "It's just because I'm at the top of the class, and nobody around here really does anything to warrant concern anyway."

 

  Chrom had this odd conception in his mind that Robin never gave herself much credit, nor did she ever realize her worth, and anybody's concern for her was brushed off by default. Stahl, who she had been paired with on a chemistry project lately, had informed her that this was because she was so used to looking out for herself that she didn't realize it when anybody _else_ was looking out for her. Robin thought that was crap, and she was merely being realistic here. Apparently, Chrom and Stahl had been discussing this, "They do more than you think. You're one of the most well behaved people in this school. But yeah you've been… really attentive today. What's the deal."

 

  There it was again. Apparently, it was obvious to the entire world exactly how Robin felt. Could they tell when she had to pee? Did she literally turn different colors to signify her emotions and she just didn't notice it? That entire thought was frustrating, she was finding out that she was an open book, and damn did she want it shut. "Am I really that easy to read?"

 

  The hallway was nearly empty as the two walked down it. Only a few stray students milled out, a few leaning on walls, some banging shut lockers. Robin usually liked it when it was empty, yet in this moment she wished it was full just so she could blend in and disappear with the crowd. Sweet invisibility was a blessing that was not appreciated until it was gone.

 

  "Sometimes," Chrom straightened his tie as he walked, then stuffed his hands into the pockets of his uniform jacket, a sharp looking blazer with the emblem of the school embroidered on the front, "You're pretty obvious. I just assumed you were on edge today because you had to tutor that guy. What was his name?"

 

  _Alligaius._ "Gaius."

 

  "Yeah, him," he shrugged, "If he makes you that uncomfortable I can go sit along with you."

 

  Oh no, oh lord no. Having Chrom there with the chance of Robin saying another entirely cringeworthy phrase? She wouldn't risk it - he'd never let her forget it. She had to beg Lissa to not tell her older brother what she had said, and even then Lissa was bursting at the seems to tell someone. "No, he's fine. I just drank too much coffee."

 

  "You don't drink coffee."

 

  "I started today," She huffed like a child as the two neared the glass front doors of the school, where the crowds waiting to board buses or get into their cars were all milling about, Robin only saw it as the perfect hiding place, "I'll see you tonight. 8 o'clock, right?"

 

  "Uh, yeah," Chrom furrowed his brows and put up a hand as he watched his friend rush towards the people, as if she was eager to be there, she was so quickly gone that he had to raise his voice to be heard, "See you then!"

 

  He got no reply - Robin was hidden once again. Just how she liked it.

 

  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

  "Listen, I know algebra sucks, but not knowing it sucks even more. You might use this one day."

 

  "Bubbles, I assure you I will never use anything near this equation. I have a calculator, I have 6 calculators actually. They're all _very_ shiny."

 

  Robin didn't even have 6 calculators. She had 2, and she did loads more math than Gaius ever would even attempt to do. Her calculus homework took up entire sheets of paper at times, and she didn't even need more than 2 calculators. "God, you're like a raccoon."

 

  He seemed pleased by the remark, his smirk twisting his lips up as he popped the pink glob of gum in his mouth, "Why, thank you."

 

  "Wasn't a compliment," She deadpanned, "Listen, you really need to pass this test. This stuff is really gonna come in handy."

 

  "6 calculators, Bubbles. 6. I'm just fine, plus I'm never gonna use this."

 

  "Well, you might. What do you wanna be when you get out of school? Like, what are you gonna do?"

 

  Her question was met with an odd, confused expression, as if she was speaking in tongues and informing him that she liked to collect other people's toenails. The look on his face made her cheeks heat up with shame, yet she wondered what was so _odd_ about that question, it was something that she was asked about nearly daily. For once, Gaius didn't have some snarky remark to something she said, no thinly veiled lie that implied something much deeper was going on. He merely blinked at her, and Robin was under the spotlight of his confused gaze.

 

  Silence fell. The noises of the library around them were the turning of pages, the whizzing of computers. It all became louder as Gaius eventually narrowed his eyes and looked at the table, his lips pursing as he still meditated on his thoughts.

 

  Robin didn't bother to pursue any further questions with him. She w _as_ wondering how and why he had 6 calculators, but that was a question for another time. She merely turned away and began to write down a few lessons she wanted him to study over. Oddly enough, he did study them. And he took good care of the books she would lend him too, he was rather respectful of all the lesson plans she would give him, it made her wonder why he even needed tutoring if he treated all his teachers like this. He was smart enough to grasp the material and get along on his own with it anyway.

 

  Her thoughts were shattered as he broke the silence and finally answered her question, "I'll be a kindergarten teacher."

 

  She blinked once.

 

  She blinked twice, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. The numbers and letters on the piece of paper were erased from her mind as she looked back up at him, encountering his blank expression, his own poker face.

 

  She took in a breath as another beat of silence passed. Unconsciously, laughter bubbled up in her throat, coming out in the form of a very unladylike snort, making her sound like a pig or a choking dog, "A… kindergarten teacher? Like… with kids? Kids? Tiny humans?"

 

  He narrowed his eyes, "Yeah, with kids. Tiny humans. Teachin' 'em how to count. Helping the youth of the nations and all."

 

  "You? A teacher?" She laughed again, this time with no snorting, "That's funny, really. Gaius, you don't… You just don’t…" As she was about to say _'you don't seem like the type'_ she stopped herself. Her words halted in her throat as she straightened up and looked at him seriously now, her heart twisting in shame, "I'm sorry, really, that was all rude of me. I don't know you very well, you could be a great teacher if you wanted to, and I can't discourage you. Go for it, really."

 

  There was that silence again. Now she felt much too self conscious of her words, her anxiety twisting and turning her heart over in her chest as she watched him raise an eyebrow at her and smirk. He seemed _amused_ by her encouragement, as if she was being cheesy about it. She didn't think she was, but then again she thought she never knew that she was an open book before. She very well could be the master of cheese, and never even know it.

 

  "That's cute, Bubbles."

 

 Her defenses rose like a wall dividing them, " _What's_ cute?"

 

  "I was lying," He gave another small pop of his gum, huffing in amusement at her, "I don't wanna work with a bunch of kids, you should know that about me by now. We've kissed before, remember? We're practically soul mates."

 

  She really wanted to punch him.

 

  The 'Alligaius' thing hadn't been spoken about when she first arrived, which she was entirely thankful for, but it seemed he found an entirely different passtime. He _lied_ to her. He enjoyed it in fact. So far, on this one study session, he had lied about his family, what he had done over the last week, and what he had for lunch, and then admitted it all as if he was testing the waters with her, seeing just how much she would believe. Robin was apparently not only an open book, but also very, _very_ gullible. She garnered no enjoyment from being any of these things.

 

  Besides, it was their second study session together, and they still barely focused on actually studying. She had to stop the lies, the flirting, and the chatting right now and just cocoon herself in schoolwork and tests and writing where she was comfortable again. So she slid the lesson plan she was writing up over in front of him, "Do this over the weekend, I'll see you next week."

 

  With that, she began to gather up her books and pens, standing up from the table and slinging her backpack over her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, Gaius looked at her with wide eyes, ignoring the paper she had slid in front of him, "You're not angry, right? It was just a joke, come on, lighten up."

 

   "I'm just not in the mood to lighten up," She retorted.

 

   "I can tell."

 

   "Stop saying that!" She hated how whiny she sounded, how much like a little kid her voice reminded her of. She even would've been stomping her foot on the ground if she hadn't of stopped herself, "I hate people knowing every damn thing I'm thinking! I don't wanna be seen!"

 

   Gaius was now standing up, at least a head taller than her as he put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes, confused, "First, you wanna be seen, and then you _don't_?"

 

   "What're you talking about," She jerked out of his hands, "Stop reading my emotions. Stop!"

 

    "I can start acting like I don't notice, if you want," He began to compromise, "It's just that when we saw each other in that theater you looked… I don't know…" He pulled back and rubbed at his neck in thought, scowling as he looked up at the ceiling. She watched his adam's apple bob as took a breath, "Vulnerable, I guess. Like you needed to be seen, or acknowledged or something. So I did, and you were really _there,_ ya know, in the moment, after you kissed me. It's like otherwise you're just kinda… floating around."

 

    She hated him. She hated anybody that could know her so well just after 3 interactions with her. She just needed to work harder on covering up how she felt, and work harder on being attentive _all_ the time. Being a ghost girl wasn't good, people could _tell_ she wasn't alright, even if they didn't show concern for her. She didn't want anybody knowing that, she didn't want anybody reading how she felt so easily.

 

    These tutoring sessions had to stay just that - _only tutoring._

 

    "Just do your lesson plan, okay?" She pleaded, taking a step back in her retreat, "And… forget that this all ever happened. Erase it from your mind, got it?"

 

    All Gaius had in return was a wordless nod, his eyes wide with an unreadable expression as she left him in the dust, surrounded by papers and pens and numbers he didn't feel like understanding. If Robin listened closely, she could hear an uttered 'I won't' following in her wake of destruction.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But this was something she could handle. This wasn't a teacher forcing her to be someone she wasn't, this was merely someone seeing her in a better light than she saw herself. Whoever Gaius saw, Robin wouldn't mind getting to know.

 "So… what happens next?"

 

  The gossip circle. Wearisome. Robin had brought this on herself, though, she supposed she had no choice but to shoulder the burden of the romance thirsty old ladies in the back seat. Saying this when Chrom sat right beside her was yet harder than telling even one soul in the first place.

 

  But if she was going to be an open book, she was going to accept it instead of making herself look like a fool by assuming she wasn't.

 

  The two in the backseat weren't _really_ old ladies. Lissa was 15, while Maribelle 16. Lissa was the most interested in Robin's story as she pulled herself up to rest her elbows on her knees, her chin in her upturned palms and her eyes wide. Maribelle sat beside her, slick eyebrow raised. She looked uninterested, really, but Robin knew better than to assume every word she said here would be forgotten by the blonde. Maribelle wasn't the type to go gossiping around, yet to bring up a 2 minute conversation from 4 years prior that happened in the early morning around 4:23 a.m. after a few cups of coffee - two sugar packs, no milk or creamer - and a few episodes of Jerry Springer? Yes. Yes, she would remember every tiny detail, and she would frequently _remind_ her victims.

 

  So Robin exaggerated, or rather under-exaggerated. Just a little.

 

  "Um… he ran out after me," She began carefully, slowly as if she was tasting the words upon her tongue, "And apologized. I said yeah, that's fine, and then we scheduled to meet up next week, and we parted ways…"

 

  Silence ensued.

 

  The only sound in the car was the hum of the engine and the rumbling of other cars surrounding them in the stop light traffic. Chrom, even, was silent in his seat behind the wheel, patiently waiting for the red light to turn green so he could go on. Robin desperately wished for some radio, a commercial, terrible pop music, _anything_ to distract from the lie she just told, all for fear of being found out.

 

  It was Maribelle who fluttered her eyelashes questioningly, opening her pink glossed lips to break the silence, " _That's it_?"

 

  Relief flooded her system. Crisis averted. "Hey, I'm not an exciting person. I don't know why you two act like my life is a romance novel. Plus…" She reared back from her turned position in the passenger seat and looked at Chrom beside her, "This started out as a conversation between Chrom and I, last time I checked you two were talking about puppies, or clothes or something."

 

  Lissa stuck out her tongue and squinted her eyes childishly, "Puppies? Clothes? No way! We were talking about if zombies would make good boyfriends." Maribelle rolled her eyes as if she _wished_ it were puppies and clothes. She was such a good friend, supporting every little whimsy Lissa had. Right now, she was keeping frogs in her jacket sleeves and reading zombie romance novels - Robin never knew that was an actual genre. To each their own, she supposed.

 

  "No," Chrom put up a hand, "No boyfriends."  
 

  " _Zombie_ boyfriends, bro."

 

  "I don't care. A boy's a boy," he sent Robin an amused glance, "And _you_ , young lady-"

 

  "I'm 7 months younger than you, what's with the dad act?" Her spirits lifted upon the teasing and the distraction of zombie boyfriends. No more talking about Gaius, no more gossip circle, no more oohs and aahs and assumptions that she and Gaius would end up on a beach together one day and he would grow out his hair long so it could blow in the wind while he held her. She could go the rest of her life without _any_ of that.

 

  Chrom had to defend himself as he put his hand back on the steering wheel, his eyes on the crowded street ahead of him, "I'm not acting like a dad, but Lissa's 15, I don't think she needs to date."

 

  "Agreed, but why're you going after me?"

 

  "I'm not," he shrugged, "I was just gonna say I was proud of you for not having some stupid romance and giving those old ladies gossip fodder."

 

  Lissa had sat back in her seat by now, sending Chrom pouty eyes in the rearview mirror as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Zombie boyfriends…" it was a mutter under her breath, "Not normal dating, Chrom…"

 

  Robin supposed that wouldn't exactly be normal dating, but Lissa wasn’t destined for a normal life. Neither her or her brother were usual people, both planets of their own, with people like Robin and Maribelle trapped in their gravitational pull. Robin only wished she could be like that, that interesting, that charming. She was just a silly girl who blew up on liar boys in public libraries.

 

  She didn't even deserve Chrom's pride in her not having gossip fodder. She had _plenty_ of gossip fodder, and maybe she would share it one day. Maybe not. It might be wrenched out of her if the burden of holding it inside got too heavy, yet she doubted that would ever happen, the intervention with Gaius was light as air.

 

  The gossip in question was her escape from the library after her small blow up. She wasn't as ferocious as her anxious mind made herself out to be, and she didn't know whether to be angry about that or not. Perhaps she was an entirely different person than she thought, she was an open book, she was soft and 'kinda cute when angry', apparently. Robin had never felt farther away from herself than she did right now.

 

  But this was something she could handle. This wasn't a teacher forcing her to be someone she wasn't, this was merely someone seeing her in a better light than she saw herself. Whoever Gaius saw, Robin wouldn't mind getting to know.

 

  Just hours ago, after she had told him off and was making her escape, she had only been a few feet out the two swinging glass doors of the library when Gaius had grabbed her arm and jerked her towards him. He was _fast_. His hand was cold as he held her forearm, and his eyes wide and olive green, panicked, endearing her to look right back into them. She had, instead, looked over his shoulder to see a librarian glaring at him and bending down to pick up papers strewn about on the floor. He had ran through a library, he had nearly knocked into an old woman, just to grab her.

 

  Eventually, she looked back at him, yet she felt nothing. There was no shock, no electric current between them, no sexual or affectionate tension. She merely raised an eyebrow.

 

  Gaius opened his mouth, then closed it.

 

  A beat of silence had passed. Another open of his mouth, the bob of an adam's apple, and the twitch of his eyebrow. Eventually, after 15 seconds - Robin counted - he finally decided to speak. "I…."

 

  How intelligent.

 

  "You….?"

 

  "I…"

 

  "You…"

 

  He smirked at that, "I."

 

  "Yes, you."

 

  The tension, the desperation, really, had melted away like a popsicle under summer's heat. He let go of her arm and rubbed his neck, leaving white finger marks on her skin that eventually would fade. Robin glanced at them - his hands weren't clammy like some boys, they were calloused as if he had worked his whole life. She couldn't help but smile at all his little surprises.

 

  "I, bubbles, I have something to say."  
 

  She looked back at him, suddenly remembering that she was supposed to be angry, thus making herself look so, though she was sure by the quirk of his lips that she just looked constipated. "Spit it out." It was so pitiful, she was so weak, such a sad little pushover of a girl that could forget her anxiety, her anger and her hurt just a few minutes later because a freckle faced boy made her smile with some stupid banter. She hated that.

 

  As if he was stalling to grant himself a second to restore his thoughts, he took a breath to begin, "Sooo….." another beat of heavy, awkward silence, "…I'm sorry. I never knew you'd take uh… teaching kids so seriously, sorry for jokin' about it."

 

  _Really?_

 

  Did he really think that was it? What kind of life did he have to think that she was angry about the literal words, instead of the act of lying in general. This time, her scowl was real, "It's not _that_ , it's that you lied to me. I don't people lying to me." She liked to know every little thought, all the truths exposed in front of her so she wouldn't lose even an ounce of control.

 

  He furrowed his brows together, making a frown between them, "But you lie to people all the time."

 

  "What? How so?"

 

  "With all the stuff about how you love school, how you're super, super happy," He rolled his eyes, irritated, "Don't think I can't tell you're not. It's easy if you look hard enough."  
 

  Her fire raged up again. Her temper was a match sparking against the side of a matchbox, ready to light up and eat away at the little stick until it would be blown out. " _Stop that_. What did I just tell you?"

 

  "To… do my lesson plan?"

 

  "God, are you stupid?" She groaned at herself and stomped a foot down, but the match was extinguished as she reigned herself back in with a weary sigh, "No, no you're not stupid, sorry…" Even when angry, she couldn't bare to insult someone like that, especially someone who went to a school where people were most likely called stupid daily, she didn't want to contribute to that.

 

  "You're apologizing and yelling at me at the same time," He seemed amused by this as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, "That's cute. You're pretty cute when you're angry, Bubbles."

 

  She would ignore that last part, file it away in her brain to mull over _later,_ "What did I tell you _before_ the stuff about the lesson plan? About how you read me too easily?"

 

  "I can't change that I'm perceptive," his smirk fell as he cocked his head, ginger hair brushing over his forehead as he did so and his eyes narrowing in a scowl, "And I can't help that you're an open book, either. You want the attention, you wanna be seen, but as soon as someone actually _sees_ you, you push it away."

 

   This felt so odd, talking so openly about emotions. Every reply felt foreign on her tongue, "Why do you think I… wanna be seen?"

 

  He shrugged now, yet still kept the unamused half scowl on his face, "Nobody kisses random guys unless they're, 1. The type to go around doing that, or 2. They wanna prove something. You're the latter, and if you wanna prove something then that means nobody's looking hard enough at you in the first place."

 

  As unfortunate for her pride as it was, Gaius was exactly right. He was wiser than he would portray himself as. She _did_ need to prove something, but what it was still stayed a mystery, ever to herself. She wasn't entirely in touch with herself enough to really know what she wanted, truth be told. Gaius seemed to know her intentions better than she did. "Do you always talk about emotional stuff so easily?"

 

 "Nope. Hate it, actually."

 

 Good to hear she wasn't the only one being eaten up inside by discomfort. "Yeah, me too…" She exhaled and let another beat of silence pass. He was looking at her, and she back at him. His hair was falling into his eyes, his voice monotone and deadpan. He was serious for once, he was all business with her, seeming so starkly contrasting against the wry boy she had kissed in that theater just 2 weeks ago. Robin didn't know which one she liked better.

 

  It was she who broke the silence, "I'm not used to it. Just…" She managed to send him a weak smile, "go easy on me from now on, okay? No immediately reading my intentions and thoughts, out-loud at least."

 

  He snorted, "You go through some hard trauma or something to make you wanna close yourself off so much, Bubbles?"

 

  "Not really," She shifted in discomfort at the subject, "I'm just used to…" What was she getting at? She was used to a father looking down on her coldly and crushing her dreams with one sentence. Judgmental glances from the people her mother paraded her in front so proudly, adults telling this child to repress parts of who she was becoming, because they knew the adult they saw in her future wouldn't make her rich parents proud. Her happiness didn't matter, as long as she was molded into what Father, Mother, her teachers, her counsellors, the world, wanted her to be.

 

  It was easy to just keep it in, let them sculpt her until she finally forgot who she was, only remembering her name and living her life without even opening her eyes.   
 

  After a few seconds of not getting a response, Gaius smiled, "You don't have to say it."

 

  She snapped back down to earth like a rubber band stretched on a finger and let go. She looked up at him, matching his smile in return, "I won't."  
 

  "Hey, that's fine," He shrugged and began to turn around, "So, I won't point out things I notice about you, and-"

 

  "You can," her interruption was quick, earning her a quirked eyebrow from him at her sudden turn-around, "It's okay. Just warn me ahead of time… And no more lying to me, please."  
 

  "Hey, you've got two conditions for me, but there's nothing you're being told to do," He rolled his eyes, "ugh, women."  
 

  "And keep the sexist comments to yourself, too."

 

  "See, there's another thing," He pointed at her with narrowed eyes, "Just you wait, I'll think of something wrong with you soon enough, then _you'll_ have a condition you gotta follow." With that, he turned around fully and pushed open the glass door leading back into the library, "See ya next week, Bubbles."

 

  As she watched him retreat back into the book shelves, she tingled. Her stomach literally tingled. He didn't think there was anything wrong with her. There was nothing he'd change, at least so far. If it was her speaking, she'd have changed a million things about the girl that had stood before him. The rest of the world seemed to disagree with his opinion on her.

 

  How sad, what a pitiful little girl, getting that anxious flutter of butterflies in her stomach simply because some mildly attractive boy hadn't figured out anything he disliked about her. Yet. There was the keyword: _yet._ She was reading way too much into his words, they were careless really, with no invisible meaning hiding underneath them. She was being silly.

 

  Thus, since it was such an entirely silly story, she wouldn't spill a word of it to Chrom, Lissa, nor Maribelle. It was hers to hold, hers to keep, as if her little talks with Gaius were her treasure troves just nestled up in her heart. Every Friday afternoon, she would put it on her calendar in anticipation of what terrible pun or deep, hated, emotional conversation would pass between them.

 

  Here she was, several hours later, sitting in the car beside Chrom as he made his way through the city to Frederick's apartment to pick him up. Lissa talked about the ending of some new book she read. Chrom seemed glad to just be off the subject of zombie boyfriends. Robin was with her friends, and she was _there_ for once. Being alert was an odd feeling, she could feel the air conditioner hitting her chest with a brush of cold air, the soft fabric of the seat and the blue in the sky outside the newly cleaned windshield. It was a beautiful evening, no jackets needed for their excursions this night. Robin liked being alert.

 

   Chrom parked the car on the curb and pushed on the horn, making the honk basically wake up the entire neighborhood. Maribelle groaned as the sound caused Robin and a few people walking down the street to flinch, "We don't need to inform the entire city that we're here, darling."

 

  "How's he gonna hear us, then?" He glanced over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow.

 

  "Text him, perhaps?"

 

  "You've seen his phone, right? It's a flip phone. Sorry Maribelle, but I don't think Fred knows how to check texts no matter how many he gets."

 

  That much was true. Chrom sent the girls another apologetic glance over his shoulder as he pushed down on the horn again. Robin flinched at the loud noise. She sighed, "I'll let him have the front seat this time." She pulled on the door handle to push it open and step outside right as Frederick appeared at the top of the stairwell leading up to his apartment. His back was straight, his chin up properly and face impassive. He wore a blue shirt complete with a heavy sports jacket over his broad shoulders. Of course he would look so put together. At 21, he considered himself the chaperone of the young group. In a way, he was, yet his grip on the younger friends truly depended on Chrom's mood.

 

  Robin had stepped out now and was pulling open the back door. She glanced over her shoulder at Frederick approaching, "It's too warm for that jacket, Fred."

 

  "It'll get cold as the night goes on, mind you," He reprimanded, "Where's your jacket?"

 

  At home. The hershey's kiss had melted so badly in the pocket that it always smelled like cheap chocolate now. It was actually kinda gross, she needed to clean it before ever wearing it again. "I'll be okay, I'll just steal yours if I get cold." And he'd give it if she asked, no matter the inconvenience, though he'd sooner give it to Chrom.

 

  He hadn't gotten in the car yet, instead just standing at the open car door and raising an eyebrow at his friend behind the wheel, "And where is _your_ jacket?"

 

  Chrom shrugged. In the backseat, Lissa giggled, "At least he's not ripping the sleeves off clothes anymore. _So_ glad that phase ended."

 

  "Alright, alright," the blue haired driver sent a warning glance to his little sister behind him, "Come on, Fred, this is a bad part of town, lets go already."

 

  The bigger man sighed, "Fine, if you insist. I w _as_ going to get you an extra jacket, but since you're in such a hurry…" He slung one leg into the car, grabbing the top to begin lowering himself in. Robin stood towards the back, the door to the backseat open as Maribelle had already scooted to the middle seat and was waiting for Robin to climb inside herself.

 

  All eyes had landed on the white haired girl - while her eyes were entirely elsewhere.

 

  There was an alley right beside Frederick's apartment building. It was dirty with random trash strewn about on the ground. At the end of it, there was a chain link fence leading off to the back of another building alley. Leaning against the chain-link fence was someone in a black hoodie, as if they were the shadows themselves. She could barely see them, yet noticed their posture was that of a males, presumably. Their knee was pulled up and bent in front of them with their leg against the fence, their arms crossed over their chest as they kept their head down. She couldn't see any hint of their face, the hood up too far over their head to get any features in.

 

  She stared simply because it was all much too familiar. This person, alone and covered up in a dark corner, frayed hoodie edges over their head… Entirely too familiar.

 

  "She zoned out again," Maribelle tsked to herself, yet loud enough for them to hear. She leaned towards Robin, clapping her hands together in an explosion of noise that jerked Robin back down through the clouds and into the moment again. She looked back at her friends in the car, "Robin, get in."

 

   Absently, she glanced over her shoulder, back into the alley way. The person had pushed away from the chain link fence, now walking briskly into a side alley. Just two steps later and they were gone, disappeared from her sight, seemingly forever, as if they weren't even there in the first place.

 

  "Sorry…" She muttered it as she pulled herself down into the car and closed the door behind her, "Let's get going. Don't wanna miss that movie. What was it, again?"

 

  Maribelle sent her an odd look, yet Lissa was already off the subject and clasping her hands together excitedly, stars in her eyes, "Killer Clowns from Outer Space!"

 

  Robin was entirely sure her friends thought she was going insane by how hard she burst out into laughter. She couldn't help it. She couldn't stop it from bubbling forth into an dam letting itself out, splattering all over the world before her as she buried her face into her knees and let her shoulders shake with amusement.

 

  "What?" Lissa asked, hurt by the laughter at her movie choice.

 

  "Nothing," Robin rubbed her eyes as she took a breath, "It's just a good movie." As if this explained the sudden, unexpected reaction, which it didn't. It never would. Perhaps Robin was simply tired of having to explain herself all the time.

 

  Lissa blinked and looked at the movie website on her phone, "But all the reviews say it's terrible, that's why I wanna see it... _You've_ seen it?"

 

  Robin didn't know quite what to feel, nor quite what to say, and the grin on her face refused to leave. She _could_ explain she got her first kiss while that movie played in the background, yet… she wouldn't. That was another one of her little secrets. Maybe she'd start growing her collection of those, living with her own reassurance that these oddities and special moments happened. They were hers, nobody else could share them.

 

  And a movie, no matter how bad, could be good depending on who you kissed while it played.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- i love comments !!! they're very encouraging so don't be shy : 3
> 
> \- This chapter is shorter than usual, but I felt that there was too much room between now and the last update, so I should churn at least something out
> 
> \- Ill explain more about the group and about Frederick soon!!! 
> 
> \- Thank you so much for reading !!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Where the skies are blue."
> 
> "The hell does that mean?"
> 
> "Don't know. But I'm gonna find out."

Frederick truly did live in the bad part of town. The buildings were all mostly graffitied, the gutters lined with garbage. Robin thought it odd that the once Valedictorian, only a few years ahead of her in school, would choose such a divey neighborhood. Yet she also supposed that when one wanted to live alone, one would take whatever they could get, even if it was terrifying for one's friends to visit.

 

  Lissa ended up picking a different movie due to paranoia over Robin's laughter and odd behavior, and for that Robin was grateful. That movie would feel odd to watch if there wasn't a freckled boy offering her cheap chocolate and a kiss beside her - yet it was almost as if he w _as_ there with how much he consumed her mind through the evening. Finally, she had no choice but to break down and ask Frederick the question eating her up inside, "Do you know any of your neighbors?"

 

  He looked at her warily, hands folded behind his back as he waited in line for the theater doors to open. The line was short, and this theater much nicer than the last one Robin went to, yet they still had to wait. Chrom was at the front of the group taking orders for popcorn from the two picky teenage girls. Frederick had his place beside Robin, where it was much calmer and he wouldn't have the explanation of exactly how much a _dash of garlic powder_ was upon a bucket of popcorn thrown in his face, "There are several I speak to, yeah. Why do you ask?"

 

  Robin felt like she had to hide in order to avoid explaining herself, but the good thing about her older friend was that he didn't quite pry with people he trusted. She just had to show him there was no reason to. "I have a friend who just might live near you." A flicker of that hooded figure in the alley-way crossed her mind.

 

  "Well…" Frederick glanced up at the ceiling in thought, brown hair falling over his forehead as he did so, "There's an elderly woman to my right, and a man and his girlfriend across from me. All very lovely. I'm not sure who's on the other side, or about the other buildings though, what's this friend of yours look like?"

 

  She tensed up, "Red hair, pale skin, probably candy in his mouth, about 5'9 and pretty lean?" She knew he most likely saw more of his neighbors than anybody else, he was so damn paranoid he practically sat in front of the window watching the world pass him by with suspicious eyes.

 

 "You're _friends_ with him?"

 

  Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest as she perked up, yet forced the optimism down as she realized just how defensive Frederick had become upon this subject. It wasn't an odd sight to see the big man tense or suspicious, but towards one of his own friends it was nearly world shattering. She had to act casual, "You know Gaius?"

 

  "So that's his name… Assuming it _is_ who you're thinking of. I don't know him personally," distaste colored every word, "My neighbor does, the elderly one. She houses him at times and bakes him cookies."

 

  Gaius didn't particularly seem like the type to be close with a grandmother, he didn't seem like the type to be close with _any_ family, really. Yet, Robin reminded herself that she didn't know him, and it wasn't as if he was devoid of feelings in the little time they had spent together in the first place. Maybe he loved his grandmother, and that hooded figure was just coincidentally as tall as him and held the same build as him. There were so many opportunities, so many explanations, that her inner scientist couldn't very well make a conclusion when all the theories still hung in the air like this. Despite her casual act, she couldn't help but pry, "Do you not like him?"

 

  There was only a shrug of his broad shoulders in reply, "I don't know him, Robin, I can't say I don't like him. I just wouldn't trust him."

 

  "You don't trust anybody that's not Chrom."

 

  "That's not true!" He huffed childishly, but soon corrected himself and settled the serious look over his face once more, "He just sometimes acts like he's in hiding, and I've seen the cops come to my neighbor's door when he's there before, it always scares her half to death, the poor woman. But when they search her apartment, they don't find anything. I suspect he asks her to lie for him," He scowled distastefully, "Who exploits an elderly woman like that? Scum."

 

   Scum. That _would_ be pretty scummy, no matter how chocolatey the criminals kiss was, or how charming his smile. She supposed he w _as_ scum if he was truly doing that, but the fact that it might not even be Gaius still hung uncertainly in the air. Perhaps there was a different red haired, candy loving thief running around the city, exploiting old women and running from the cops.

 

  What she was sure of, though, was the fact that he _was_ a criminal in some way. He had even admitted to her that he stole things, that the cops were after him even. She didn't want to be arrested, and if she kept his secrets she'd automatically be guilty, she'd have to say goodbye to the scholarship, to college. She might as well start looking into community colleges if she was to let that happen.

 

  "The movie's starting!" Lissa bounced in place, waving Chrom over as he stood in line to fulfill her very specific popcorn requests, "Let's go, this is gonna be so good."

 

  Robin pushed off against the wall as the line started to move and file into the dimly lit theater. Yet, her mind wasn’t on her steps, the people around her, what seat she would take - it was all on Gaius, and the hazel eyes of a thief.

 

                                                                                   ---------------------------------------------

 

   "Alright, that's it, Lon, I'm moving out. This is the moment, the fork in the road of destiny… Our lives are about to change forever, Lon, ol' buddy, ol' pal. Lon? You listening, Lon?"

 

  "Call me that one more time, let's just see what happens."

 

  The threat merely fell on deaf ears, even daring to be laughed at in it's reception. Gaius's easy going, casual reply was most likely a mistake, judging by the sharpness of the knife in Lon'qu's hand. He knew how to handle a blade, almost scarily, be it for fighting or cutting potatoes for a stew. If only the ginger haired thief could read his roommates mind, he would know to not laugh at the dagger-stare being sent his way. If Lon'qu had to pick one thing he hated about his roommate, it was the nicknames - and the candy practically bursting from the cabinets, the stealing, and the dirty laundry left everywhere.

 

  In fact, once Lon'qu stopped to think about it, he'd celebrate the day Gaius moved out.

 

  "Where're you going?" He grunted at the ginger, eyes down on the potato he was slicing into rounds, his hands feeling the slightest bit slimy with the juices as he did so, "I wasn't aware you had a job to support yourself."

 

   The laugh dropped out of thin air, now replaced with Gaius's narrowed eyes and his lips twisting into a scowl, "I _got_ a job, okay? I've had one this whole time."

 

   "Breaking into people's cars and shoplifting isn't a job."

 

   "Shut up, okay? Zip it," the delinquent was on high defense mode, as characterized by his tense shoulders and obvious scowl, he always would get defensive when approached with the subject of his 'job' and how he made his money. In fact, he had quite a bit of money, yet getting an apartment and having his name on records wasn't too smart, Gaius didn't even like the fact that he had a birth certificate and social security number, the boy would disappear if he damn well could, and Lon'qu was entirely sure he _would_ once he graduated high school.

 

   As much as Gaius annoyed him, he had spent half his life at his side, being the only friend to keep the ginger from landing himself in jail more than twice. There were instances he couldn't prevent, but at least giving his closest friend a place to stay so he could be under the radar helped out, even if Lon'qu complained about it daily. It was one of his only acts of niceness, and it was damn annoying to go through with. Being nice was way too much work.

 

  Once Gaius had gotten defensive, the conversation stopped. The only sound in the small apartment was the clank of Lon'qu's knife against the cutting board. He slid the blade under the potatoes and dropped them into the bubbling pot of soup, his irritation was bubbling up in a similar manner, "Face it, you're not moving out. Help me with dinner."

 

  "Gods," Gaius rolled his eyes, "Yes _mom._ Am I your slave now?"

 

  "You're my roommate, meaning we share this place, meaning you help me with dinner," Lon'qu handed him a piece of cooked chicken that was set off to the side, "Here."

 

  The ginger merely blinked down at the poulty strip, "What the hell do I do with this? Lord, it smells awful."  
 

  "Chicken. It's called protein, you're gonna cut it up and put it in the soup."  
 

  "I've never eaten a 'protein' in my goddamn life, Lonny."

 

  "I'm going to stab you."  
 

  He merely groaned as he took his place at the other counter, snatching a knife and beginning to cut the white meat. The kitchen went quiet again, though much more serene as the two worked in silence with only the clanking of knives in the air. Their kitchen was small, rather undecorated with tan cabinets, a white tile floor and white walls. The living room and door leading to the bedrooms were within speaking distance, making the entire apartment rather tiny and cheap. For two high school boys, though, having a place of their own in general was heaven on earth.

 

  Lon'qu and Gaius had met in an orphanage, raised and tutored by the workers there until they hit high school. Way back in their childhood golden days, Gaius would steal the keys off the house mother and give them to Lon'qu, whooping and hollering in his exuberation as he watched his dark haired friend make his escape out into the streets. Two days later, Lon'qu would be deposited by a police officer right back into the orphanage. The longest he ever made it was a week. And the day Lon'qu turned 18, he took all the saved up money he had and rented out an apartment, bought furniture and food, and waited a month for Gaius to join him.

 

  There was a big difference in being friends with Gaius, and living with Gaius. Both were annoying and inconvenient, but one just included getting to deal with dirty socks strewn over a lampshade, and the various candy wrappers laying on the living room floor.

 

  Lon'qu thought of this as he glanced over at said dirty sock strewn over the lamp. Gaius seemed to shed everywhere, leaving his mark in the only place he actually could. The apartment was the sanctuary away from the rest of the world, where he turned into an invisible man and left no traces that he even existed. Seeing the difference between the two lives of his friend was always rather startling, as if thief Gaius and high school student Gaius were two different people entirely. Thinking on this, he shattered the silence, "Where would you even move out to?"

 

  Despite the sting in the dark haired man's words, his friend merely sighed dreamily in return, "Where the skies are blue."  
 

  "The hell does that mean?"

 

  "Don't know. But I'm gonna find out."  
 

  Once again, a blanket of silence fell over the two boys. As Gaius pulled back from the chicken to absently finger the knife in his hands, he considered throwing it up into the air, just for the sake of seeing if he could catch it by the handle. It would either end in a bloody mess, or a really cool moment for himself. It was one of those things that would make Robin freak out - it felt silly to not do it in front of her. He could almost see her exasperated, pretty face in his mind as he thought upon it. She seemed to oftentimes invade his thoughts unwarranted with the silliest of things.

 

  It had become a little personal game to scare Robin in various ways, despite going too far last time. He never did foresee a little joking lie affecting her that way, yet that girl jonesed for control so desperately that he supposed every little thing would end up setting her off.

 

  It's exactly why he did it.

 

  Thinking of Robin seemed to _summon_ Robin. His phone suddenly began to buzz in his pocket, just a few short vibrates until it finally clicked off and stilled, and Gaius ran his fingers under the water of the sink and dried them before fishing his phone out to check his text messages. It was Robin, short and sweet as she always tended to be. He swiped his thumb across the screen and grinned as she saw the message, but that grin soon fell upon reading the contents.

 

   Lon'qu boredly raised an eyebrow his eye. Gaius looked up from the screen with a nasty scowl.

 

    "Something wrong?"

 

    "I think I need to pay dear old Bubbles a visit…"

 

                                                                                                 -----------------------------------

 

  The next week at school was entirely too boring for Robin to even attempt to focus. It seemed that her sudden alertness had gone away with the dull lectures on subjects she had already spent the entire weekend studying for. Usually, she'd still listen to the lecture just as a refresher, but throughout the week every day was spent with heavy eyes threatening to close and drift her off into dreamland.

 

   Fridays were the most exciting days usually, with her tutoring of Gaius and then going out with friends in the evenings. Saturdays were nothing special, she'd spend them in her dorm room reading a book and studying, and Sundays she'd do the same, with the occasional call from her father darkening the rest of her day afterwards. He hadn't called in a while, though, and her Sundays were back to being just dull copies of Saturdays.

 

   There, too, was the fact that Robin had dropped the tutoring program, but she didn't like to think about that.

 

  At least during the week she could spend most of the day in school, and sometimes Chrom would host little gamenights in his dorm where she could spend the evening. Yet this week she had stayed up much later than usual, devouring her books, throwing herself into research on her laptop, and staring at the blinking line indicating where she would begin to write. For a girl who read so much, she surely couldn't write as easily.

 

  There was the fact that she didn't even know _what_ to write about. Her mind went blank upon the subject, completely devoid of any thoughts that could possibly form an interesting book. She knew she didn't quite want to write a romance, she hadn't experienced anything even close to that to be able to write properly upon the subject. She knew she didn't want to write horror, nerdy fantasy, anything such as that. And she didn't feel strongly enough about anything in particular to attempt a biography. There was simply nothing to write about.

 

  Thus, her nights were spent concerned over this until she finally fell asleep hours later, and spent the entire day with heavy eyes, threatening to take a nap on her desk.

 

   When Robin was a child, writing had come so easily. Her books weren't exactly good, and they weren't too long, but they were easy. She would spend hours in the night just clacking away on her laptop until she finally fell asleep dreaming of the next scene. Those were the days when she lived with her mother and step father, though they weren't around too much. She was mostly confined to her bedroom, as if she lived alone in that big house with it's big windows that looked out over the big yard. Everything always felt too big, and Robin too small. She didn't belong there, but when she wrote, she wasn't even there in the first place, she was lost in her world of words. It was a comfort, and now it refused to embrace her.

 

   Safe to say, she was mildly irritated. This was only heightened by the gift awaiting her tired eyes as she stepped out of the double doors of the school that afternoon.

 

   The gift was a human, and a rather terrible greeting sight for the tired, dull-brained girl. Other students all rushed out the doors around her in waves of yells and laughs, just happy to be out of school and free for the rest of the day. The students that chose to live in the dorms would be heading towards the building, and Robin would usually join them as they did, if not for the ginger haired possible-thief leaning against a car, waiting for her with a cheshire grin.

 

    So she turned around, and went back into the building.

 

    "Hey dude, that's my car. Get off."

 

     Robin couldn't but grin as the protest reached her ears throughout the noise. She was damn glad she heard it, with the faint sounds of Gaius complaining about how he needed to lean on it to 'look cool' making the deal even sweeter. The protesting continued, but grew faint with her retreat back into the building. She'd go out the back way and endure the longer walk if it meant not having to converse with frustrating sugar fiends. It wasn't even Friday, thus there held no possible explanation in the world as to why Gaius would be showing up in front of her school, eyes landing straight on her, cheshire grin in place like an omen.

 

     "Hey, Bubbles."

 

     As per usual, Robin ran.

 

    Robin ran rapidly, retreating resolutely, rashly responding, "Go away!"  
 

    "Bubbles, come on!" Gaius broke off from the other student, who now rubbed a hand on the spot where the ginger's butt just sat, as if mourning that one particular spot upon the hood of his car, now ruined. The sight of him and the flood of students on the front yard of the academy grew smaller as Robin retreated further and further down the halls.

 

     "Come onto what?" Her eyes were wide and innocent, and she refused to look over her shoulder to see how close he was. She didn't want to admit that her retreat was rather halted in some secret hope that he _would_ catch up with her. She wouldn't betray her pride in that manner, especially not for a boy, even if said boy had cheeks like the stars and eyes like a forest.

 

    "Bubbles." Resolute, resolved, resilient. He was serious.

 

    She was now back in the cold, rather neutral halls of the school. Her arms raised with goosebumps, and she had both hands on either arm as she stopped her frantic walk, turning around to look at him. Every moment between the two now felt like some scene from a badly acted tv drama. Every second a soap opera, it made her sick. Gaius was too charismatic to be normal, she supposed, and she was too boring to keep up with it and enjoy the tv-esque lifestyle he lived.

 

    She was a little rock caught in his gravitational pull. She couldn't look at him. She felt like she was betraying him. "You can keep all the text books, I'll just buy more."

 

   A shrug was caught out of the corner of her eye, yet she still wouldn't unglue her eyes from the lockers behind him. He took no note of it, "Thanks, I'll use 'em on our next session."

 

   "There is no next session."

 

   "Sure there is."

 

    Robin's irritation was like flame on a dry leaf, immediately catching up, ready to spread through the entire forest. "Did you come here to strong arm me into continuing with the tutoring?"

 

   "Yep."

 

   "Not gonna work."

 

   "I know," he shrugged again, wearing that dark tattered hoodie once more, "I can't ever make you do anything you don't wanna do."

 

   "Well at least you're aware." Her voice basically dripped with flatness and irritation. It was the end for her, the moment she turned on her heel and began walking down the hallway once more. This time, she truly was resolute. The fire had grown brighter.

 

   Gaius just would not give up. With longer legs, he caught up beside her quickly and stuffed his hands in his pockets, leaning down a little to eye her as the two walked, "But would you do it if I asked as a friend? I don't even know what I did, Bubbles, we already talked out our feelings last week. You _know_ I wasn't a fan of that."

 

    He was speaking as if _she_ was. It made her feel like some naggy girlfriend that wouldn't let anything go, even after an apology. The feeling settled heavily in her gut, despite that not even being why.

 

   Gaius was a thief. Frederick saw him take advantage of old ladies and hide from the cops. The day she had met him he was on the run from the cops. He was a delinquent, and she was a private school girl with a bright future ahead of herself that couldn't afford criminals, even during tutoring. Lord, the cops might even stake out the library one day and take her in, thinking she helped him on whatever petty theft he had committed. He was cute, and he made her laugh, but this wasn't worth it.

 

    To not tell him that would be rude, entirely unfair. Some accursed inner sense of honor and loyalty blocked her from being an unfair, rude person. Dammit. "Do you want the truth?"

 

    A roll of green eyes, a pop of pink gum, low voice flat with sarcasm, "Bubbles, I've lived my whole life tellin' the truth. I treasure honesty over anything else, you know that."

 

    "Fine, I won't tell you the truth…" She stopped in her tracks and narrowed her eyes as he stopped too. The halls were empty besides the two people, one person not even being allowed on the property in the first place, but she didn't want this moment to end with all things hanging in the air between them, she wanted it to end with her being right and him apologizing and possibly turning to a life of goodness, maybe becoming a priest or a dog walker, maybe a candy salesman. She could see it now, what a bright future. "I dropped out of the tutoring program because…" pause for dramatic effect, "…I'm joining the circus."

 

    "With that face? You're too pretty, the only deformity you've got is your big, fat brain."

 

    Oh goodness. Oh goodness gracious, all the stars in the sky could fall down and crash around her, and Robin wouldn't notice - all simply because of, and for the fact that Gaius was flirting with her. Again. He was flirting with her again, and he was entirely too nonchalant about it. He raised one eyebrow at her, eyes blank and impassive. He didn't look amused, he didn't look too serious, he had his poker face on, and it was too good for her to crack. She merely stared back at him dumbly.

 

    A big fat brain in her head, and all she could reply was, "Uh…"

 

    His lips suddenly twisted into a smirk, eyebrows furrowing wickedly now, "Kidding, it'd be your nose."

 

    She could've punched him. She truly could've, if not for the sticks she called arms, or the joking air between the two. It was something so pleasant, always there around him. He diffused these situations so quickly that she couldn't help but feel comfortable, it was the world's greatest shame that he was a criminal.

 

   "I'm gonna ignore that," Robin couldn't bring herself to sound annoyed, "Do you want to know the real reason why I dropped out of the program?"

 

   The wicked look melted away, replaced by a blink and a dumbstruck face, "Yeah, I really do."

 

   She was quickly, steadily growing uncomfortable on the subject, but she knew it had to be said. The empty halls were an unwelcome setting for her next words, and she suddenly wished for the air to be filled with noise as a distraction. There was nothing to stop the situation at hand besides the fact that Robin could only wish this hadn't happened in the first place.

 

    A deep breath, and she had to begin, "You're a thief."

 

    It was unsatisfying as Gaius immediately answered, "Yeah, so?"

 

    For all of Robin's zoned out, lost in her own little world personality, she could be perceptive when she wished to. After years of studying other people and reading mystery novels, she fancied herself quite the detective, pointing out little changes in one's face, or the quirks of a voice. She could tell when someone wanted something, when they were nervous, when they needed to pee. It was a talent, truly. And in this very moment, something had flickered across Gaius's face.

 

   He was _too_ blank. When Gaius was genuinely irritated, he scowled. When he was happy, he was like a cat with his pleased, smug grins. When he was bored, it showed so obviously that he would garner looks of distaste from older people. This look on his face right now was much too stony and blank, and as he answered her statement of his thieving, a flash of something unexplainable rippled through his expression. It was the twitch of his brows, the corner of his mouth tilting down for a second. His eyes darkened before they became blank once more. Gaius was hiding himself behind a mask once more.

 

   She wouldn't push on past this mask, she wouldn't break down his walls. That was none of her business, really, she wasn't his tutor anymore. "I don't want to get involved, okay?" She put her hands up in front of her defensively, taking a step away, "I don't wanna get arrested."

 

   There was some part of her that predicted that he would laugh at that statement, yet no laugh came. He only twisted his mouth into a grimace as he seemed to dig his hands deeper into his pockets, as if he just wanted to disappear. She would too, she supposed.

 

   Silence fell like a heavy blanket now. The hallway was already maddeningly silent, but now it laced its way between the two people and sucked up every bit of air in the room. In nearby classrooms, Robin knew there were teachers grading papers, as there always were, perhaps even students staying late to study. They weren't truly alone, yet the world around them was theirs to inhabit, and Robin felt like she might choke on the silence.

 

   Had she went too far? Was he a murderer too? Did he have a basement where he kept all his eyeballs and severed pinky toes? She couldn't tell, one too many murder mystery books had instilled a sense of paranoia about others in her heart, and Gaius could be anybody. He could be the culprit, her murderer, not just the guy she once tutored.

 

   To ease the tensity in the air and the grimace on his lips, she attempted to joke the way he did, "In a perfect world, you'd say 'Hey I understand', and then walk off, and we could sometimes see each other at the grocery store and wave, maybe."

 

    That was terrible, a total flop. Gaius merely raised an unamused eyebrow, "Yeah, sure, Bubbles," His tone was shockingly dry and flat, "In a world where the skies are blue, huh? Too bad I'm like a storm cloud."

 

    "And what am I?"

 

    In a perfect world, Gaius would've flirted with her again. She was almost expecting it, nearly looking forward to that. Perhaps her heart would flutter this time, maybe her cheeks would heat up, she could finally fulfill Lissa and Maribelle's romantic notions of her and Gaius. But instead, he surprised her as always, and managed to be a jerk while doing it. "Don't know," he shrugged, "You're not the sun. I think you're an even bigger storm cloud."

 

    Her heart did not flutter. Her hopes merely flopped on the ground and died and terrible, slow death. "Two storm clouds, huh?"

 

   "You're the bigger storm cloud. You're like one of those ones that's all dark and might carry tornadoes, probably hail too."

 

    "Thanks," She practically growled at him, "Why aren't I the sun? You don't think I'm _sunny_ enough?"

 

    Now the impassive face and grimace was gone, replaced by his usual scowl and irritated gleam in his eyes. This was the real Gaius, not the mask. "What've you done to be considered sunny? You're gonna stop being my friend just because you're afraid I'll get you arrested, where's your faith? That's pretty judgemental."

 

    This was entirely too ridiculous, "I'm so sorry that I don't wanna be arrested!"

 

    He seemed to want to drop the subject with how quickly he began to move away. His shoulders were tense, scowl obvious as he narrowed his eyes at her, "Tonight. At 11:30 p.m. go to the donut shop around the corner and wait for me there. You won't get arrested, okay? I don't expect you to be my friend, but I want you to understand something loud and clear."

 

     "I-Is that a threat?" She was bewildered.

 

    "Nope," The casual manner was beginning to return as he turned around to walk away, "We'll just talk. Kisses might be involved, but just the Hersheys kind."

 

    Of course it was just the Hersheys kind, Robin wouldn't have it any other way. "You probably hate me. You do, don't you?"

 

    He only shrugged.

 

  "Don't be like that, I'm just watching out for myself."

 

   Her words seemed to have struck a cord with him. It was the look in his eyes as he stopped in his tracks, looking over his shoulders, that stuck her in place. She was glued there in the middle of the private school hallway, looking back at him. Gaius almost seemed d _esperate._ He was pleading with her to understand, just how she was pleading with him. His next words struck her silent and still like a bolt of lightning.

 

   "So am I."

 

   And with that, he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't updated in so long!! I'm sorry, but here you go <3
> 
> I love... building up a little hint at romance... and then crushing it... I'm sorry, my sense of justice cannot allow me to make Gaius feel things for Robin just yet. He finds her cute and fun to tease, but other than that he doesn't truly feel anything for her... yet...  
> Robin might have a small crush, just out of admiration for how he makes her laugh and feel comfortable, but it's not a real crush tbh. I just think that it's silly to make them like each other when, so far, they've not really done anything to earn it. Especially now, with Robin not wanting to be around him, like that just ruins things really... But it'll lead to something good blossoming!! Stick with me, it's slow, but I have good plans for this fanfic : 3


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